Tag Archives: brujas del sol

Life can change in an instant. Last July, I asked an old friend of mine, Brian Hake (Kopaz singer/guitarist), and his Van Halen cover band (Van Haken), to perform at my 40th birthday bash. The band blew the roof off KOBO putting on a show that some might argue was better than the real thing.

Then, in January, life got real – Brian was diagnosed with Leukemia. By enduring multiple chemotherapy treatments at the James Cancer Center at Ohio State Univerisity, Brian’s cancer is now in remission and he’s continuing to be proactive in his fight.

I invite you, Donewaiting readers, to join me for the second annual Chip Midnight 40th birthday bash, at KOBO (2590 N. High St.) which is not only an excuse to get together a bunch of bands I really dig to cover songs I really like, but, more importantly, is an opportunity to help raise money for the Hake-n-Roll Pelotonia team which will be riding 100 miles earlier that day to support the James Cancer Center at the Ohio State University. A portion of each $7 cover will be donated to the Hake-n-Roll team.Continue reading →

Here’s what I wrote about Boston’s 28 Degrees Taurus’All the Stars in Your Eyes for the spring 2011 issue of The Big Takeover.

The fuzzy guitars, the mildly-detached vocals, the lo-fi recording of a hazy sound that deserves to be recorded in hi-fi – Boston’s 28 Degrees Taurus leaves me with a longing for the mid-90s DIY concert scene in which donations helped buy the band enough gas to get to the next college town where they wouldn’t wash or rinse but would definitely repeat. While “ambient” makes me think of Moby, there’s an undeniable dream-like quality to the music which is part Beach House, part Sonic Youth, part Seam. I think that secretly Karina Dacosta (bass, vocals) and Jinsen Liu (guitars, vocals) know just how good they are but in public are humble about their talents which makes them even more charming and endearing.

Brujas del Sol, my new favorite Columbus discovery, have just released Moonliner Vol.2 – a trippy 2-track EP finding a hypnotic groove somewhere between space and the desert. (And this volume’s got vocals!)

ATTENTION METAL FRANCOPHILES! Alcest is from France. That’s where I’m going with this. Please allow me to apologize in advance, but I can’t think of a more apt term to descibe them than EPIC (anyone who uses this term IRL/unironically deserves to be hanged, drawn and quartered). It’s also very pretty. And heavy. And French.

Alcest – that is music from another world, a world that is real, but that exists beyond ours and cannot be grasped by our senses. A world where all appearances – trees, glades, streams – emit a pearly light and where a faraway and celestial music fills the air like sweet perfume. A world inhabited by infinitely benevolent and protective beings of light, communicating in a wordless ‘language’ directly from one soul to another. A world where the soul knows neither pain nor sickness nor sorrow, but is filled with a deep peace and an ineffable bliss. A world that lies ‘before’ and ‘after,’ ‘beside’ and ‘behind’ our world and the awareness of which stills mankind’s fears of death.

For those who like to make “Bands to Watch” lists, may I kindly submit Brujas del Sol, a new-ish stoner rock trio comprised of Adrian Lee Zambrano (guitars/vocals), Derrick White (bass) and Jason Green (drums), for consideration?

While bands like EYE and Lo-Pan cover the heavier end of the spectrum, Brujas del Sol has settled into a trippy, spacey, hypnotic groove, not unlike bands such as Dead Meadow, Wooden Shjips, Pink Floyd, Pretty Weapons, Black Sabbath. Definitely a band I’M going to be watching (and listening to) in 2012.